our starting point this morning, the blown call that outraged millions. it seems to have single handedly settled a labor dispute. that's right. the official nfl refs are headed back to the field. beginning tonight, millions of football fans will again be able to sleep and rest easy. they will be able to curse and boo the real refs again, finally, for the ravens/browns game tonight. and calmed by the knowledge they won't have to see another replacement official for at least eight years, because that's how long the new labor deal will last. jason carroll, i know you're excited. he joins us live to talk about how they reached this deal while we were all sleeping. >> you seem more excited. did you see how excited he was at the top? you seem very excited. and it's not just you. a lot of people excited by this decision. both sides met for 17 hours on tuesday, met until midnight last night. the agreement basically means that the nfl referees will not have to give up their pension. that was a big sticking point for them. they will not have to go and

take that 401(k). so that's a big deal for them. the deal also means that they're going to get a pay raise spread out over the next few years. the late-night deal comes after that botched call that you talked about, everyone was talking about it, from monday's seattle/green bay game. the nfl received some 70,000 calls from upset nfl friends. so much criticism coming in, it forced both sides to reach a deal. the nfl commissioner saying late last night, the agreement supports long-term reforms that will make officiating better. the teams, players, and the fans want and deserve both consistent and quality in officiating. the referee association president coming forward, saying, we are glad to be getting back on the field for this week's game. so a lot of people excited. the referees are expected to ratify the agreement this friday, and they will be back on the field for tonight's game, the brown versus the ravens. i know a lot of people other than you, john, are going to be excited to see the refs back on the field. but my question is, how long it is going to take before they

start complaining about them again? we'll see. >> it will take until tonight. until the second play of the game. >> but it's a higher level of complaining. it's a little more nuanced in the complaints. >> jason carroll, thank you. i credit you for having this deal reached last night. so thanks very much. we will have much more to talk about this deal coming up. we'll have former new yorkiant tiki barber. he will join us and give us the player's perspective. first a look at the rest of your top stories this morning. the middle east will once again be the focus of u.n. general assembly today. palestinian president mahmoud abbas expected to seek non-member observer status. he was one of the top commanders in the war, now brigadier general jeffrey sinclair faces multiple sex charges including wrongful sexual conduct and having inappropriate relationships with several female subordinates. a military hearing will determine whether sinclair faces a court-martial. he served five combat tours in iraq and afghanistan and he was deputy commander of the army's

82nd airborne division in afghanistan before being removed in may. president obama's sexual hits an unexpected snag when air force one is forced to abort a landing. the plane was flying the president to a campaign event in ohio, it tried to land, but had to change plans, pull up, circle around, and try again. reporters on board say the jet hit bad turbulence and weather on approach to toledo express airport. news crews on the ground were initially a bit confused about what was going on. moments after this flyover, you could hear someone on the ground say, "that was interesting." air force one landed safely on the second try. president obama will campaign in the critical battleground state of virginia today, where the latest polls give him a slight lead over mitt romney. the president's team is releasing a new two-minute advertisement this morning, which will be airing in virginia and five other toss-up states. >> if i could sit down with you in your living room or around the kitchen table, here's what i'd say. i'd ask the wealthy to pay a

little more. and as we end the war in afghanistan, let's apply half the savings to pay down our debt and use the rest for some nation building right here at home. it's time for a new economic patriotism, rooted in the belief that growing our economy begins with a strong, thriving middle class. read my plan. compare it to governor romney's, and decide for yourself. >> again, this is a two-minute ad, unusually long in politics these days. the president goes on to promise to create more than 1 million new manufacturing jobs in the next four years if he is re-elected. >> mitt romney also stumps today at a campaign event with veterans, as he continues to get questions about his compassion for the middle class and struggling americans. romney in an interview with nbc news pointed to his universal health care law, passed when he was massachusetts governor, saying, "i think throughout this campaign as well, we talked about my record in massachusetts. don't forget, i got everybody in my state insured. 100% of the kids in our state have health insurance. i don't think there's anything that shows more empathy and care about the people of this country than that kind of record."

but he also repeated his promise to repeal obama care and replace it with what he called real health care reform. it is one of america's most enduring mysteries. what happened to jimmy hoffa? this morning, another new break in the case that will soon have police digging. the teamsters leader disappeared off the face of the earth back in 1975. now acting on a tip, police will take soil samples from a home in roseville, michigan, to see if hoffa may be buried there. tomorrow they'll drill through a concrete driveway to test for human remains. tiki barber is here laughing about this. authorities say radar detected an anomaly underneath the concrete. >> that's why tiki barber is here, our top story. a deal made to get the nfl's regular refs back on the field tonight. >> thankfully. >> i thought hoffa was buried underneath the south end zone of the old giants stadium. an deal? you woke up to a deal this morning? >> it's fantastic. i actually went to bed waiting

for it to happen, and about 12:00 last night, my phone started buzzing, so i knew a deal had been reached. and it's fantastic. it's fantastic for everyone involved. now there's trust in the interaction with the officials. there's still going to be arguing with referees and they're still going to make bad calls, but now we're going to know that it's coming from a base of knowledge. these guys know what they're talking about and they're going to have an argument for why they do what they do on the field. these replacement guys simply weren't qualified. >> they missed the preseason, though. have they been kept up to field? >> officials have to be in pretty good shape? if you get a streaking receiver down the field, you have to be behind him. you have to see all the pass interference and different kind of things that happened down the feel. these guys have got to go pass a physical and figure out their assignments. and for week one, actually, week one for them, which is tonight, they're working without a contract, having to ratify it on friday. they need 62 of the 121 referees to agree. and i think they readily will. >> so one of the things that's

been going on, it was something of a legendary rep in the league, has allegedly been giving training seminars to the refs while they've been locked out, keeping us up to speed on the rules. tell us about this guy. can you get up to speed without reffing games? >> it's hard, because rule changes come every year and you have to figure out how to execute them in realtime. so ed hawkins defines himself by his role as one of the head referees in the national football league. so he was doing what he should have been doing, which is preparing. just like when the players last year were locked out and the cba was under dispute with the national football league, guys were doing things on their own. quarterbacks were grabbing wide receivers and running backs and going through their plays as if they were in training camp. ed hockey is doing the exact same thing with his guys, because he knows it's going to be game on tomorrow. >> and they know they'll have eight years of some job security and the veterans aren't going to

have to worry about -- they didn't like the 401(k). but at some point, they'll have to start taking the dreaded 401(k), which we have the dreaded 401(k). but eight years, that's great job security. >> it's financial job security. this was a great compromise from the nfl perspective and the nfl referee association perspective, because both got a little bit of what they wanted. >> tiki, do you think the referees will have newfound respect in the league? >> i absolutely think they will. because when you see the alternative, you see how disruptives the to t s ths th s game. and you don't trust the decision they're making. you don't trust the replacement refs. you will trust these regular referees, who have been doing this for many, many years. >> tiki barber, nice to see you, two days in a row. ahead on "starting point," the obama administration now suggesting that al qaeda may have been behind the attack on

that libya consulate that killed four americans. why has it taken them so long to come forward with this? and do we have the full story, even now? and take a look at this. a teenager dressed in a sheet with a fake grenade launcher walking the streets of phoenix. he and his uncle were trying to make a point, what point, i'm not sure? and did it work? you're watching "starting point." america finally learned what it would finally take to settle a labor dispute. a blown interception call that not only cost the green bay packers a victory, but cost one fan a week of wearing only a seattle seahawks jersey and a thong. up. a short word that's a tall order. up your game. up the ante. and if you stumble, you get back up.

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♪ welcome back to "starting

point." minding your business this morning, u.s. stock futures are higher. it's welcome news after the s&p 500 closed down for five straight days in a row. closing down yesterday because of concerns about europe, particularly greece and spain as austerity protesters hit the streets in athens and madrid. the fiscal cliff. it hasn't happened yet, but it's already hurting jobs. ceos of fortune 500 companies are warning they will hire fewer people and invest less in the next six months because of the uncertainty today surrounding the fiscal cliff. a survey conducted by the business roundtable, a lobbying group of ceos of top companies found only 29% of ceos said they expect to hire more employees in the next six months. that's down from 36% in the last quarter. also new this morning, pew research center says a record one in five households owed student debt in 2010. in that year, 19% of households surveyed held student loan debt, which is a significant jump from just 15% in 2007, before the recession. the average student debt

outstanding is now $26,862. that's nearly triple what it was back in 1989, john. we have new details this morning about the attack that claimed four american lives in libya, including ambassador chris stevens. yesterday hillary clinton suggested al qaeda was behind the attack, which happened, of course, on september 11th. but a new report that's been corroborated by a cnn contributor says u.s. intelligence knew the group was responsible, even as the administration blamed a spontaneous mob. now, we're also finding out that two weeks after the attack, fbi agents still have not reached benghazi and the consulate still has not been secured. jane harman is a former democratic congresswoman. she was the chairman of the house intelligence committee, and now she heads the wilson center. we're so glad to have you here this morning. so hillary clinton yesterday gave something of a new explanation for what happened in benghazi. the response fm the administration, the splax, has been evolving over the last ten days or so. i want to listen to what she

said. >> for some time, al qaeda in the islamic maghreb and other groups have launched attack into neighboring mali and other countries. and they are working with other violent extremists to undermine the violent transitions underway in north africa, as we tragically saw in benghazi. >> now, she is the highest member of the administration, the highest ranking member to say this on the record so far. but we have these new reports that say they knew it from day one. what's taken so long? >> i doubt they knew it from day one. and i think the situation or the facts are evolving. by law, hillary clinton had to appoint an outside committee to evaluate this. she has done that. and she picked an extremely well-regarded ambassador, tom pickering, former secretary of state, and ambassador to many mooe

middle eastern country to head it. and once he completes his report, we'll know what the facts are. but first of all, hillary clinton is right. i serve on four intelligence-related boards and i know this myself, al qaeda in the maghreb is using al qaeda as a base. the u.n. yesterday led by f kof annan has led a government-led force. but mali received a lot of the arms from the catches in libya that weren't guarded and their in a position to stage attacks into libya, as she said. i don't think we should deplore any aqam here. they probably were involved. they are opportunistic. unfortunately, this consulate was in a rented facility, and my guess is that we will learn that there should have been more security. but there's no such thing as 100% security. and some senior state department aides point out, our soldiers who are very well trained and well armed unfortunately can get

killed, so why can't diplomats? i'm not recommending this and i'm horrified, be vulnerable too. >> you do talk about an asymmetrical attack, you talk about all the signs of terrorism, yet the president himself has been very reluctant to use the word "terrorism." republicans have been very critical about the fact that he hasn't really seemed to use it at all. he was asked directly about this on "the view." let's listen to what he said there. >> there's no doubt that the kind of weapons that were used, the ongoing assault, that it wasn't just a mob action. >> why not call it terrorism? why not use the word? >> well, i'm not sure why he's not using it. and i think it is likely that there was terrorism. but, again, we should know the facts. he's a well-trained lawyer, and so is hillary clinton, and she's being cautious as well. but she's up here at the u.n. in an evolving scene, where sadly the dynamics of the presidential race and everything else are interfering. but we will learn, and i bet we will learn, that there should

have been more security and that there was some element of al qaeda or some terrorist affiliate, some opportunistic terror group involved. >> do you wish he would use the word "terrorism" here? >> i think that's his call. >> "the wall street journal," obviously, has an opinion on this. probably different from yours. they have been very critical of how the administration has handled this. and they say there's something of a double standard here. on their editorial page, they say, "imagine the uproar if barely a month before election day, the bush administration had responded to a terrorist strike on september 11th, no less in this fashion. obfuscating about what happened, refusing to acknowledge that clear security warnings were apparently ignored, and then trying to shoot the messengers who bring these inconvenient truths to light in order to talk about anything but a stunning and deadly attack on u.s. sovereign territory. rather than accept responsibility, the administration has tried to stonewall and blame others." is it fair to suggest that politics is behind this? >> no. but we're just 40-plus days from the election.

so politics is around this. i haven't heard the administration blaming others and i don't think they should blame others. they have a thorough investigation ongoing. hillary clinton just talked about who might have been involved in this attack. and i think if it turns out that the u.s. was at fault in some way, the u.s. should accept the blame. >> but at a minimum, you do think politics is surrounding this? >> absolutely! politics is surrounding everything these days, u.s. politics. >> you're i town here for the global women's leadership initiative, which aims to get more women from all parties elected all over the world. explain to me how this works? >> oh, i'm very proud of that. here's my little button. this means 50% of women in public service jobs worldwide by 2050. the wilson center operates two organizations under a heading of the global women's leadership institute. one is the council of world women leaders, which is women who have countries and the other is this training mechanism, started by hillary clinton in the state department, for women in public service jobs.

and it's co-sponsored by the seven sister colleges, which i went to one of those. >> just 10% of leaders around the world are women at this point? >> depends -- 20% of parliamentarians are women, 20 women are heading countries at the moment, there have been over 50 since 1960 who have been democratically elected to head countries, and there are more and more women in boardrooms and so forth. they're all connected. if you have more women in parliamentary seats, i served in congress for nine terms, you'll have more women in the boardrooms. if you have more women in the boardrooms, you'll have more laws and practices that help women. and women are the change agents in terms of economic development in the middle east and africa and maybe by 2050, we won't have this terror problem. because these economies will be thriving and girls will be educated and we will see a very different world. >> jeanne harmon, thanks so much for joining us this morning.

ahead on "starting point," it'slready number one on amazon and it didn't even need harry potter's magic. j.k. rowling's new book is on sale today, but is it worth all the hype? and where is this rare white whale headed, next. (push button tone)fterno. this is stacy from springfiel oh whoa. hello? yes. i didn't realize i'd be talking to an actual person. you don't need to press "0," i'm here. reach a person, not a prompt whenever you call chase sapphire.

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good morning. welcome back to "starting point." some top stories to tell you about this morning. congressman todd akin suggested that women could turn off conception in what he called a case of legitimate rape. but he's picked up more support for his beleaguered senate campaign. jim demint and rick santorum are urging voters to back akin and

help republicans win the senate. a new york gay couple is suing a conservative group in federal court. they claim the group, public advocate of the united states, stole a photograph of them kissing from their blog and then used it in a mailer to illustrate what it calls the evils of same-sex unions. all right. take a look at this incredible sight. mother nature at her most mysterious. an extremely rare albino whale swimming off the coast of australia. scientists say it's the only documented albino humpback. they've named him migaloo. he's spotted about once a year during -- look at that! during migration system. >> you hear that joke about ten times. but you heard it here first on "starting point." it's a new chapter for j.k. rowling, her new adult novel "the casual vacancy" is already a best seller before even going on sale today. the book is raw, and as she says in an abc news interview, deeply personal. >> you've gone, it seems to me,

from the ultimate fantasy to the ultimate reality. >> yeah, i think that's fair -- a very fair statement. i have gone from dragons and unicorns and all the fun that's involved in writing that to a book that's intensely personal, that expresses a lot of my reality. >> earlier reviews say the book is definitely not for children, since it's filled with violence, sex, drug use, and naughty language. all right. ahead on "starting point," imagine walking down the street and seeing someone with a grenade launcher and apparently a toga in your neighborhood. what was this man doing? >> that is crazy! and this, a shocking report claims the boy scouts covered up for child molesters for decades, but the scouts now say kids are safer from sexual abuse with them than at home. but is that really the on the?

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welcome back to "starting point," everyone. it's thursday, september 27th. here's a look at our top stories. some wonderful news. replacement refs are out and the real officials are back, 48 hours after the blown call that triggered national outrage, the nfl reached an eight-year collective bargaining agreement with the referees. they sealed the deal last night. that means the regular officials that you love to hate will be back on the field tonight. the university of california is looking to get past that pepper spray incident at its davis campus that was caught on camera and went viral. you might remember this video. students who took part in an occupy wall street protest last november were pepper sprayed at close range by a police officer. 21 of the students joined a class action lawsuit against the university. the university is now offering to settle this case and pay each of those students $30,000.

women's health in today's "house call." if you're pregnant and you or your significant other noticed you started snoring, call your doctor. it could be a risk. snoring could be a sign of high blood pressure and preeclampsia. preeclampsia could cause seizures and is the second leading cause of death for pregnant women in the u.s. there's no cure for preeclampsia, except of delivering the baby. a trader's joe peanut butter have been recalled because of salmonella concerns. the plant has been shut down now. at least 30 people have been sickened by a strain of salmonella in 19 states. you have to take a look at this. this is a stunning picture. a phoenix man an arrested for dressing his 16-year-old nephew in a sheet and sending him out into a busy street, armed with a fake grenade launcher. now, michael turley says he did it to find out how long it would

take police to respond to a terrorist incident. cops did come and just took names, but when turley posted the video on youtube, he was arrested earlier this week and charged with creating a false impression of a terrorist act. seems like an awful idea, frankly. >> he's likely to get hurt or shot or something. you know? the boy scouts of america doing some damage control against a growing sex abuse scandal. it stems from a scathing report in the "l.a. times" that found the scouts failed to report hundreds of cases of alleged abuse over a 20-year period. now, in response, the boy scouts will review more than 50 years of so-called perversion files on alleged sexual predators. the scouts also released a study saying kids are safer with them than at home, this despite admitting hundreds of young boys have been abused over the years. this report, this independent review says in part, these files show that children in scouting were safer and less likely to experience inappropriate sexual

behavior in scouting than in their own families, schools, and during other community activities supervised by adults. now, this report was compiled by university of virginia psychiatrist, dr. janet warren, who testified as an expert witness for the scouts in 2010 in a civil lawsuit filed by a victim of abuse. with me now is tom scales, a survivor of sexual abuse while he was in the scouts. he's now the executive director of the abuse advocation group, voice today. and jason fells helped break the story of abuse in the scouts. tom, you're a survivor of sexual abuse while you were in the scouts, you say. what's your reaction to this study from a psychiatrist who says that young men, boys in the scouts are just as safe as they are in broader society? >> i think they missed the whole point. the whole point, really is, how do we protect children and what happens to all these children, and recognize that many, many,

many young men -- i've never reported mine, and many young men don't report. and the stigma of the abuse, the cultural barriers to a young man speaking out. so they have no basis in fact. they can talk only about reported numbers. the reported numbers like most of the statistics around child sexual abuse are generally accepted as being very, very small representation of reality. >> i think many people this morning are also saying, you know, the point of the boy scouts, of values-driven organization that teaches leadership is that parents think their children, if anything, are safer in this kind of environment. i think a lot of people this morning are saying, that's not really an excuse for sexual abuse going on in any kind of organization? >> absolutely. they're teaching our young men to be trustworthy, brave, loyal. the mentors who are teaching them, and frankly the people who are in charge today, where they have had to literally litigate

to get access to the files to understand the extent of the damage to children. clearly, they've lost their focus as a group. and they certainly don't model the behaviors that they represent. >> jason, i want to talk to you about the summary section from this report, this psychiatrist report about all the alleged abuse going on within the scouts. while it was not perfect and mistakes clearly occurred, bsa's file system has functioned well in keeping many unfit adults out of scouting. these claims of abuse were not swept under the carpet and ignored. rather, suspected offenders were pursued and oftentimes banned from scouting over the fervent objection, and at time, even the opinion of the local community. the study makes no mention of reporting abuse to police. remind us what your reporting for the "l.a. times" found about cases that were not reported, and what do you think about the numbers here, that this report from the scouts is coming up with? the rate of abuse is the same as it is in the broader society.

>> we reviewed 1,600 of these files over the last year. and what we found is that there were hundreds of cases in which the boy scouts of america were the first to learn about allegations of sexual abuse and there's no indication that those reports were shared with law enforcement. in 100 cases, we found overt evidence that the boy scouts had tried to cover up abuse, including in some cases, hiding abuse from the parents to have the victims. this report that was released just on tuesday contains some similar evidence, actually. it's not highlighted in the summary, but if you look into the details inside the report, you'll see many, many cases reviewed by the boy scout's own expert were not ever shared with authorities. there was no involvement of law enforcement in a high percentage of these cases. and in many cases, parents -- in seven cases, i believe, the boy scout's own expert found that parents of victims have not been

notified. so clearly there's more to this report than just the summary, than what the summary suggests. >> jason, do you think the response from the boy scouts, they are investigating now years of these files. do you think the response has been appropriate? >> i know a lot of people who have been in touch with us and who we've reached out to feel like this is an important step. the boy scouts in its 100-year history has never looked into these files to determine whether anything in these files could help them protect youth better. so it's overdue, i think. whether it's enough is yet to be seen. i think what's going to happen in the coming weeks is hundreds of these files are going to become public, and people all across the country are going to be able to see for themselves. not what the boy scouts says about these files, gnat what we've reported about these files. they're going to be able to look for themselves. i think that's going to create a new wave of interest. >> jason from the "los angeles times," thank you so much. and also tom scales, executive

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welcome back to "starting point," everyone. 40 days now until the election. and we've made a commitment to go in depth on the issues that matter to most voters. today, the war on drugs. >> this year in america, federal and state governments have already spent a combined $30 billion to combat illegal drugs. $11.1 billion spent by the feds,

$19 billion by the states. 1.2 million americans have been arrested so far this year for drug-related offenses. but everyone will tell you, the war on drugs is just not working. that begs the question, how would president obama or mitt romney tackle the question? cnn's john zarrella takes a look. >> the crew of the cutter fires its machine gun. >> got smoke. got smoke. >> all right! >> reporter: disabling the trawler. on board, 20 tons of marijuana. this was the mid-1980s. the drug war was at its height. then vice president george bush headed up a task force to fight the problem. >> we have got to do better in interdicting it. >> reporter: in miami, cocaine is found hidden in commercial jets, flowers, even boxes of yams. the problem is, some aren't yams at all. rather, plaster casts painted

and shaped like yams. inside, pure coke. stach houses and drug labs are routinely raided. that was a war on drugs. these days, it's not even a war of words. the white house doesn't haven't call it a war any longer, focusing more on prevention. and in this political season, the issue of illicit drugs rarely gets a mention on the campaign trail. when it does come up, president obama and mitt romney appear to be on the same page. >> that the president of the united states must make a priority of helping reduce demand in this country. >> the united states can focus on drug treatment and prevention. >> absolutely. i agree with that. >> reporter: if anyone should know, it's judge giselle pollack. she presides over drug court in broward county, florida. the idea, get clean, you may not a perfect record.

pollack says drug courts ought to be a priority for the candidates, because they reduce drug dependency and save taxpayers millions. &she's g and she's got the numbers to back it up. a study showed pollack's court saved the county as much as $30 million a year over a five-year period. basically, the difference in the cost of treatment and counseling versus incarceration. >> if we can keep them out of the critical justice system at this level, then we will save billions and billions in prison costs. >> reporter: for the white house, it's a multi-layered approach. focus on education and prevention, treat drugs and addiction as a public health issue, not just a criminal justice concern. law enforcement continues choking off the supply. this year, the federal government is spending just over $10 billion on prevention and treatment. law enforcement and corrections, just under 10. mitt romney has not outlined how

he would allocate federal dollars, but both men say they are not in favor of legalizing marijuana, and both are emphatic that working closely with mexico, which has supplanted florida as the favorite drug route, is a must. pollack says shd like more political discussion about drugs, in part because substance abuse can be the result of a job loss or tough economic times. >> we live in a society of aggravating stress. so it's only natural that people are going to turn to substances, whatever they may be, to numb their pain, their stress. >> reporter: ironically, the most talked about campaign issues leading to one of the least. john zraarrella, cnn, miami. ahead on "starting point," she left indy car for nascar. does she regret the move? danica patrick joins us live next with what that learning curve has been like. keys, keys, keys, keys, keys. ♪ well, he's not very handsome

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welcome back to "starting point. police reports say 27-year-old jamie lynn toller told her boss and whole family she needed a double mastectomy and breast reconstruction, but was uninsured. want to know who's donating the most money to the romney and obama campaigns? there's an app for that? guns used by the infamous

bandits bonnie and clyde are being sold to the highest bidder at an option this weekend. his colt .35 and her .38 special are expected to go for hundreds of dollars each. she is best known as the record-setting female indy car racer, but now she is revving up for nascar. danica patrick is here this morning. you are just days away from a big race in dover. my question is, what are you doing here? shouldn't you be preparing? >> i'm on my way. no, we're raising awareness for copd, and just, you know, doing the right thing. again, we were just talking about before we went on air. it's not that far away, dover. >> we'll talking about copd, since you brought it up. this is a disease that took your grandmother when she was just 61. tell me a little bit about what you're trying to do. >> of the 24 million people that it affects, only half know it. so there's just a need of awareness for this disease.

it stands for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. most people know it as chronic bronchitis. my grandma passed away and she was only 61, really young. and it takes most lives before 70. it kills more people than breast cancer and diabetes combined. so just trying to use my platform to raise awareness for something that really means something to me. >> what would your grandmother think of the fact that you're a big indy star and now a big nascar star? >> she watched me, watched me in go-ca go-carts. i'm sure she'd be proud -- i'm sure she is proud. i'm sure she is proud looking down. and she -- my dad's side is the grandma that she is and my dad races when he was younger. so it's in the blood. i can't help but think some of it came from grandma too. >> let's talk about the learning curve. this has been an amazing year for you. what's the learning curve been like switching or moving over and doing nascar? >> steep. it's been a steep learning curve for sure. this is my first year in nascar

full-time, and i did indy car for seven years and a little bit of nascar, now i'm doing all nascar, nationwide series, with a few sprint cup races. this is one of those specific ekends i'm doing nationwide and sprint cup. so it's going to be really busy. and those cup weekends are a lot of track activity. but it's good for me. and tony stewart, who you might have heard of. he picked the toughest tracks for me to go to in sprint track for the first time and dover is one of them. >> for those of us that never drive above the speed limit, what's the difference? >> you telling me you really don't drive above the speed limit? >> i feel fortunate i can tell the truth because of my job. i don't ever follow the speed limit, barely ever, unless there's traffic, of course. but it's comfortable. i don't know any difference. it's not like i jumped into a car and the first thing i did was 200 miles an hour. you start in little briggs and stratton five horsepower little lawn mower engines that go 40 miles an hour. and then you graduate up from

there. so it's a slow process. this is my 21st year. the end of my 21st season of racing. >> i want to talk about from the bleacher report, "being a woman has become almost irrelevant in discussions about performance. instead of danica patrick female, she's become known as danica patrick, race car driver. she may not be a full-fledged member of nascar's good old boys club just yet, but she certainly has passed her initiation, at least." that's from a columnist in the bleacher report. how does that make you feel? >> good. people always ask me, what's it like to be a girl out there, but, of course, i don't know the difference between being a girl and being a guy. so i feel fortunate to be in an era where i feel like as a culture, where you embrace something new and different, and i'm definitely that to racing. i wasn't around when people were booing and discouraging a woman in racing, and i think that's made a big difference. but at the end of the day, you have to go out there and get the

results. that's the most important thing and that's what i'm working towards. >> you spend every day racing cars and driving fast with guys and sweaty, greasy stuff. i don't want to sell you both out, but you were talking about each other's nails before you came on here? >> yeah, we were, actually. >> i got this new opi did like a german collection, and i'm pretty sure i had that done as a pedicure. >> it's true. we'll compare and contrast later. >> i'm still a girl. my favorite part of the day is getting my hair and makeup done. >> i can remember, a long time ago, you know, like my grandfather saying something about, you know, like the journalist jessica savich or anything. nobody says that anymore, no one says the female race car driver, danica patrick. just the name. things have changed. >> across the board, i feel like more men and women ares crock gender barriers, not just women. i feel like there is a universal acceptance for people doing whatever they are best at. >> danica patrick, thank you so much for joining us. get to the training, get ready

for dover. >> i will be flying there this afternoon. >> nice to see you. ahead on starting point, football fans, players, coaches, rejoicing as the lockout ends. john berman's life can begin again. the real refs prepare to take the field tonight. will all that time off mean they will be off their game? plus, newt gingrich, newt gingrich says mitt romney has a messaging failure as new polls have even more bad news for the republican candidate. can the romney camp turn things around? the big break in one of the biggest mysteries of all time. this time, police may actually know where jimmy hoffa's body is. you're watching starts point. ♪ hi dad. many years from now, when the subaru is theirs... hey. you missed a spot. ...i'll look back on this day and laugh. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru.

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good morning, i'm christine romans. >> i'm john berman. sole dad off today. our starting point, the deal is done. late-night talks meant experienced nfl refs will be back on the football field tonight, but will they be off their game? candidates coming out swinging. president obama and mitt romney both in the same state again today, hammering each other on jobs. but romney's behind now in every new poll this week, including several crucial swing states. so, what's the next move? the campaign's senior communications adviser joins us. a day harry potter fans have been anxiously waiting for but they are in for a shock. is jk rowling's new adults-only book even worth the hype? >> it is thursday, september 27th.

"starting point" bins right now. good morning, everyone. our team this morning, a writer from the new yorker.com. susie welch, reuters. >> good tough here on christmas morning, the morning after the nfl ref deal was made. it was a hail mary pass that started the uproar around now the prayers of millions of football fans have been answered. the nfl referee lockout is over finally. the blown call that blew minds across america on monday night sure late fire, 48 hours after it happened, the league and the refs now have an eight-year collective bargaining agreement, sealed the deal late last night. >> bring in our retired running

back tiki barber. joining the conversation is nfl referee red cashman, a league official 40 years, worked two super bowls. he is a man who know what is it like to be in the zebra stripes. let me ask you first, you were asked to help train these replacement refs. now it's over but did they really ever have a chance in this game, in this high-stakes, high-speed game, to be able to keep up? >> well, first of all, i am not involved in training any of the replacements, no, they don't, it just takes too much background and too much training to do that. it takes player a long time to qualify to be a professional player in the nfl and the officials are the same thing. no, they really didn't have a chance. >> we know the refs usedthe preseason a lot like players do, tiki barber telling us about that takes time to get up to shape and the rules. when the refs take the field

tonight in baltimore, you think they will be ready? >> oh, absolutely. these guys have been working every week, really since may, to get ready for the season through conference calls, through video, through meetings of their own. and that's something that the officials have done simply because they have enough pride in what they do they wanted to be ready. and they are ready. >> teak day, seemed to the owners, the most valuable thing the owners have, got aught then at this time of the game was slipping away from them. >> i think you can't discount the media uproar, not just in sports media this resonated in regular media and we are talking about it here. >> president clinton talking about it. >> politicians talking about t we talked about that yesterday it resonated in people's minds in a much greater way than i think the league anticipated. the owners, businessmen themselves and probably saw some kind of hit happening to their

business had to act. roger goodell obviously being the voice of that finally made a decision here to get this thing done and they did. >> all right players be fined or coaches fined for hugging and kissing the refs when they come back? is that against the rules? >> no it's not. actually you probably is. not allowed to touch them. i would love to see t. >> do players get along with the refs? >> you know what it is, it is a respect thing. what you saw the first few weeks of the season, why this was coming to a crux because the players and even the coaches did not respect these replacement referees and it was turning volatile in a lot of situations, not only between the player bus between the players and the coaches and the referees. that won't happen. you will still get the arguments because they made a bad call and messed something up but much more of a high level of respect between these two groups. >> can i ask you, have you ever seen referees so revered as the regular referees seemed to be revered no? >> not really.

you know, one of the things that occurred out of this, two good points. first of all, i think there is an appreciation really of what the professional referee really does and what his qualifications are. the second thing is with all of the publicity that's there, i think it's indicating -- think a great indication of what the game has really become t is truly americans' game. >> used the word respect, teak kim. you have got to respect the decisions made on the field. you can be angry about them, but the level of respect that now we all have for these referees today, i guess can only go down from here for them. they must have an aware than they are really under a microscope? >> i would hope tonight at the game when the officials go on the field there san applause by the crowd. the officials are back and at the same time to recognize the

nfl for its effort to put the best product on the field that it can. and i think that's why the two sides got together. >> that's the word it is the perfect product. the nfl is the perfect product. every single week, monday and thursday, you gather on your couch and you see these games that go down to the wire. and it's because of the system, of course, enforces having these perfect games these matches are so evenly tied. i think what happened was the owners, this is a business story in many way, the owners were shocked. they do what monopolyists do they negotiate with the players and the tv networks and they win. >> i think a different dynamic also. owners of teams used to be owners of teams that what's they did. now they are more businessmen, they have business principles that don't -- shouldn't apply to sports but they do apply to sports. to your point, the league is only as good as its weakest link. the referees at this point were

a very, very weak link, great players, coaching, media, the sports books, et cetera, the rest were bringing it down. >> so crucial in this whole thing, why the missed call was so crucial. exactly your point. >> what happened with that missed call, sudden lynn people thought, wait a minute, the people getting hurt here the players and the fans. you are screwing with the customers. >> i was being hurt. >> tears shed this past week. they are also selling a story and they are selling a story with a fairly tale, maybe your team nation that week or maybe it doesn't. >> right. >> the story was kind of off. >> didn't trust the story anymore, didn't trust how it was being officiated or dictated. >> the thing is the salaries of the refs, compared to what the other guys on the playing field are make, these guys are making under $20000 a year average, right? >> let's ask cash yin about that. you are part time, i don't think a lot of people know that refs only work part time and have other jobs the rest of the year. >> well, i'm not sure what part

time means, i kept a record to have a couple years before i came off the field and i averaged 45 hours a week as far as the football was concerned. and that's pretty close to being full time. but at the same time, we don't have any philosophers that are officials because they want people who make decisions every day. and you have to make them quick and you have to be ready to make them. so being an attorney or a doctor or a teacher or a money trader, you make those decisions during the week and, frankly, any decision is good practice for what you do on sunday. urge red cash yin, ticky barber, i don't think i have ever seen so many happy people in one place. we have so much bad news reporting every day this is good news august nice change of pace. >> we are very happy, i want you to know that. >> thanks, red, thanks, tiki. now a look at the rest of the day's top stories four.

the middle east front and center today at the united nations. palestinian president mahmoud abbas expected to campaign for nonmember observer stat turks stopping short of seeking full statehood. later, benjamin netanyau will speak to the assembly. he isn't expected to respond to abbas but address a more immediate concern for israel, iran's nuclear ambitions. a top army general charged in a sex scandal, brigadier general jeffrey st. clair is accused of wrongful sexual conduct and having inappropriate relationships with several female subordinates a military hearing will determine if he will be court martialed. he served as deputy commander of the 82nd airborne in afghanistan before being relieved in may. air force one was forced to abort a landing. the plane was flying the president to a campaign convenient in ohio but the pilot decided to pull up, circle around, try again. reporters on board say the jet hit bad weather and turbulence yesterday on approach to toledo express airport.

news crews on the ground were initially confused about what was going on. moments later -- moments after this flyover, you could hear someone on the ground say, "well, that was interesting." air force one landed safe loin a second it was a long shot but could jimmy hoffa be buried under a driveway in roseville, michigan? tomorrow, police investigators will drill through the concrete and test soil samples for human remains, work offing a tip that a body was buried this around the time the teamster's leader disappeared in december of 1975. authorities say radar detected an anomaly underneath the cop crete. a new chapter for harry porter author jk rowling. her new adult novel "the casual vacancy" is a best seller before going on sale today. rowling tells abc news this book deeply personal. >> you have gone, it seems to me, from the ultimate fantasy to the ultimate reality. >> yeah, i think that's fair, a very fair statement. i have gone from dragons and unicorns and all the fun that's

involved in writing that, to a book that's intensely personal, that expresses a lot of my reality. >> now, this one is definitely not for children t included references to violence, sex, drug use and swear woursd. >> those are not for children. next on "starting point," mitt romney falling you behind the prident in polls for three key swing states and now, newt gingrich is calling his campaign a messaging failure. is it possible to turn things i around from here? romney's senior communications adviser joins us next. the nation's top party schools says not so fast. why the officials at the university of virginia want a recount. next month, stevie wound letter perform at a fund-raiser for president obama. after that, stevie will return to his other gig, an nfl replacement ref.

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counting, berman, to the election in the fight is truly in the battleground states, the numbers now not in mir 's favor. >> the late he is gallup tracking poll shows president obama's lead growing again, up to six points nationally among registered voters in that poll. joining us nous is terrell walsh, the senior communications adviser for the romney campaign, great to have you here this morning, sarah. >> thanks for having me once again. >> mitt romney yesterday, your abortion was asked about these polls by abc news. i'm very pleased with some polls, less so with other polls, frank lake, this the stage, polls go up, some go down. i'm tied in the national polls, gallup and rasmussen have the numbers evened. as the matter of actuality here, gallup has him trailing by six points, swing state polls from key swing state, talking ohio, we're talking virginia, iowa, colorado, that show him trailing now. is there reason for the campaign to be concerned? >> okay, yeah, you see this is what polls do we find of feed the beast when we talk about each poll after poll after poll. we have said all along that this

was going to be if i can borrow a phrase from our political director a knife night a phone booth all the way down to the wire. that's what it is. i think that's what the polls do reflect overall. you have ebbs and flows and going to have those ebbs and flows, particularly at a national level. the battleground states are certainly going to be a lot tighter. again, as you mentioned, even just this week, rasmussen had us dead even, had us dead even now you gallup had us dead even now. there's a little bit of a gap there but look, we have a great ground game. we have a lot of enthusiasm with volunteers across the country. 65,000 volunteers across the country. i think we are poised. wither in a very good position and excited about what's to come. >> you say it is a knife fight in a phone booth but as of today, are you losing the knife fight in the phone booth? gallup has you down by six points, a fair amount, not just democrats or polls saying there is a problem here but republicans, republicans who have endorsed mitt romney. let's listen to what newt gingrich said "the situation

room" yesterday. >> the romney campaign has yet to find a thematic way of explaining itself and laying out in a clear, crisp way the difference between romney and obama. they seem to have this overly methodical model where they go out and they keepsake the same thing and it doesn't -- the world's too fluid, the world's too sophisticated for that it's clearly something you can go out and you can communicate and you can do dramatically better than romney's currently doing. if you go back and watch the great wing campaigns they have clear, vivid, explicit sense of direction for the future. >> so newt gingrich, he always has a lot to say, a lot to say about your campaign yesterday. what do you make of that? >> god bless newt gingrich, we love him. certainly we welcome all opinions and viewpoints and people that you know, support us. we welcome people to come out, support us, get on the ground with us, some of our volunteers, look, we are not going to wage this back and forth between

who's conservative and republicans want party and all of that i think, again, these polls are what they are. they are a snapshot. we still got plenty of time. we have got a lot of ground to cover. look, when americans hear snippet, sound bits, doesn't paint a fair picture. i spent the first part of my career in reporting and realize as you cover these candidates and listen to the entire speeches and hear what they stand for, it takes it out of the context of just some of these soundbites i, so as we go forward and we are spending these times, this is why you spend the time in the state, the people on the ground get a chance to heart candidates and then to ladies and gentlemen degree, when you go to the debates and people hear how these candidates lay out their plans going forward and there's a clear indication between what these candidates stand for, big government, more government, or more of your take home pay, more focus on the middle class and keeping more of what you earn -- >> hang on one second, tara -- >> i think you will see more of

that spelled out very distinctly in the coming days as we go into these debates. >> hang on, tara, i want to ask the guys here what they make of what newt gingrich said yesterday? >> i think newt gingrich has gotten himself in this fray where polls are like the new trash talking. you know how players are standing next to each other before a game starts? i remember one time playing lacrosse and before we faced off, the center for the other team said, "you're gonna lose." it was completely unnerving. that's what goes on with the polls. both sides get wrapped up talking about the polls instead of the issues it is like trash talking. you're gonna lose. no you're gonna lose it is not just about the issues. every single day, there's multiple polls. >> newt is on something. >> i don'ten to something. without a document. >> expressing what every other republican is expressing now you that is the romney campaign loses this will be the conventional wisdom, they failed to develop a clear, consistent theme. >> i haven't heard -- frankly haven't heard it from your guest, tara, what is that message that is going to defeat obama, other than just it's a bad economy soot voters should be turning about this guy?

>> you think it is about message or delivery? >> i want to bring in the economy here that has been a message, tara, for so long it has been the economy and you don't want the obama economy and our guy knows how to run a business and run an economy and run a state. but we are seeing that the polling is showing us, back to the polling, two-thirds of americans say things really aren't great right now but saying a year ahead, they see things looking better, the housing market, housing numbers starting to show signs of life, three months in a row, housing prices going up, data today that will show maybe some spark, notwithstanding the fiscal cliff happening in the american economy. how does that change your message for the romney campaign? >> listen, i happen to agree with the assement about the polling that goes back to my earlier point. the polls, literally feeding this beast about polling, spending way too much time talking about it the bottom line is this. i read a headline that says obama defends his record. there is no -- i mean if you are defending a record of failure, he's failed on every level.

if you hold him to account to his own -- >> people are saying the economy is starting better, they are not losing money or their house anymore, not falling apart anymore. >> if you hold a president to his own standard by which he based himself saying he should only be a one-term president, if he does not deliverer on to all of those things he talked about relative to the economy, relative to jobs, relative to getting people back to work, all of those points that he himself if you hold him to that and his record, then we should not be re-electing him. we should hold him to that, that's what we are saying. we have had a community. we have had somebody who is a community organizer. it is time for a business leader. let a business leader give it a shot. >>ky just say, you know, she is making your point, the point is that, you know, they want this to be a referendum on whether or not president obama has delivered and it should be. the president has bn president for four years it should be partial lay referendum but in a presidential election, which is so important.voters going to have to -- want to look forward. only going to vote for somebody if that person has -- presents

them a plan for what the next four years are going to look like. this polling stuff interesting. i think sometimes maybe some days we talk too much about it, but what the horse race is about the interesting question i think for the romney campaign today is are they going to do anything differently? i mean, they are clearly losing, this is slipping away from him. >> tara, leave it at that. are you going to do anything differently? >> listen, i think we have a great ground game. we are spreading the message far and wide. we are talking about recovery. we are talking about those five principles that will guide this romney/ryan administration relative to trade, economic, small business education and a reformed tax code. those are the things we are talking about. that's what america wants to hear, they want to be on a road to real recovery not four more years of failure. >> tara wall from the romney campaign, thanks for joining us this morning. >> you bet. top call next, victoria's secret racy or racist? the company under fire for the sexy geisha getup, complete with

chop sticks, apar rently. [ male announcer ] when this hotel added aflac to provide a better benefits package... oahhh! [ male announcer ] it made a big splash with the employees. [ duck yelling ] [ male announcer ] find out more at... [ duck ] aflac! [ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. ♪ ha ha! and the candidate's speech is in pieces all over the district. the writer's desktop and the coordinator's phone are working on a joke with local color. the secure cloud just received a revised intro from the strategist's tablet. and while i make my way into the venue, the candidate will be rehearsing off of his phone. [ candidate ] and thanks to every young face i see out there. [ woman ] his phone is one of his biggest supporters. [ female announcer ] with cisco at the center... working together has never worked so well. [ laughing ]

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it is time for today's tough call. asian-americans taking exception to victoria's secrets new "go east" collection, particular lay skimpy little number known as the sexy little geisha. many prominent asian-american bloggers say they find the new line of lingerie offensive and accuse victoria secret of exploiting the stereotype of asian women. the picture with the chopsticks was taken down from the website but victoria secret not confirming if they drop it had from their inventories all together and yet to release a statement on this. enjoy all of the free publicity i'm sure. >> guys, tough call here? >> listen, i think we have to

accept that victoria see jet in the business of sexual stereotypes them sexually stereotype everybody. >> i think this is culturally offensive, if you are an asian woman, you look at this and sick sick and tired of this notion their a geisha and have a certain affect with men. walking by victoria secret windows the other day with this 17-year-old daughter, there was this incredible woman looking at you with her len sher ray i felt bad for my daughter at that moment to be brought up with this immoment. >> look at amber cromby and fitch. that kind of advertising 20

years ago wouldn't have been allowed. you're defending t. >> i'm not defending t. >> i get the catalog. what is troubling? >> asian women have been trying to be taken seriously. >> and they are in the business of making these stereotypes of everybody. >> i refer to the group offended if they are offended or not if you were asian-american and you are offended, this is probably offensive. >> imagine if this was a native american woman and she had a getup -- >> pocahontas. >> this would not be a question. they wouldn't dare put it up. i think to go and -- >> i don't think that i think they would put it up. >> luckily for ryan, we will have to leave it here.

>> ahead on "turning point" -- >> not that familiar with victoria secret. >> tmi already. bad word, bailout, now the former fdic chair out with a book saying the bailout was bad for. >> you fat, drunk and stupid no way to go through life. >> don't talk to me. >> playboy's list of party schools and why some aren't happy about t you are watching "starting point." ur, posters copies of my acceptance speech. great! it's always good to have a backup plan, in case i get hit by a meteor. wow, your hair looks great. didn't realize they did photoshop here. hey, good call on those mugs. can't let 'em see what you're drinking. you know, i'm glad we're both running a nice, clean race. no need to get nasty. here's your "honk if you had an affair with taylor" yard sign. looks good. [ male announcer ] fedex office. now save 50% on banners.

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welcome back to "starting point" a look at the top stories and the they are back. the referee lockout in the nfl is over. the league and its officials reaching an eight-year collective bargaining agreement, means the end of those replacement refs. what do the fans think now? >> i'm just glad the refs are back. i'm a bic football fan and didn't like what was happening with the game. >> have the good refs back? of course, you need good refs right r. >> the refs looked challenged

and overwhelmed. great to see we will have the real refs back on the field. i'm excited. >> great for football, fans and everybody. >> every single one of those people will be complaining about the regular referees by next monday. nevertheless, the regular refs will be on the field for tonight's ravens/browns game in baltimore. a scathing report in the l.a. times says the boy scouts of america doing damage control this morning. they failed to report hundreds of case of alleged abuse over a 20-year period. now the scouts conducted a study saking the kids were safer with them than at home. the study was prepared by a psychiatric expert hired by the boy scouts. the scout no, sir longer practice what they preach, an expert says. >> they are teaching our young men to be trustworthy, brave, loyal. the mentors who are teaching them and frankly the people who were in charge today, where they have had that literally litigate to get access to the files to understand the extent of the damage to children, clearly, they have lost their focus as a

group and they certainly don't mold the behave dwloors they represent. >> a sex abuse support group called snap is calling october boy scouts to oust anyone still in the boy scout house tried to cover up this abuse. a big payout could be coming to college students pepper strayed during occupied wall street protest. you probablier areth video. a police officer at the university of california at davis spraying students the close range, 21 of those students sued. the university offering to settle the case and pay each student $30,000. "playboy's number one party school wants a recount. university of virginia earned this honor. the rankings are based on sex, sports and nightlife, according to playboy but uva isn't happy it, staying is far more important for the university to be known for our academic achievements in teaching and research. here is the rest of the top five, in case, you want to go there southern cal, florida, university of texas and wisconsin. and this just energy the latest reading on gdp growth for the second quarter, 1.3%.

growth in the second quarter weaker than first thought this isn't a good report, guys. economists were expecting the number would be about 1.7%, according to the bureau of economic analysis and it means that the economy was barely growing, barely growing. we also just got a report from the labor department that says 359,000 jobless claims filed for the first time last week, 26,000 fewer than the week before, much less than expected. economists were looking for 379,000 jobless claims there but again that gdp number is the most important. i want to bring in shelia bair, written this book "bull by the horns" former fdic chairman. let me ask you first, you don't want to be in this economy growing only 1.3%, four years after all we have been through. >> right. >> what do you think is happening here? housing market getting better, gdp in the summer wasn't that good, just not growing the way we should be. >> we are not. i do think one of the issues, one of the reasons we have a sluggish economic recovery, the choices from 2008 and 2009,

didn't fundamentally restructure some of the sick, failing institutions, pretty much propped up everyone, the sector was bloated already, weak banks they don't do a lot of midlining, don't want to take risks, they have bad lines on the books already. >> smaller bank, community banks, not as ex-polesed to the mortgage bubble and the crisis, they are lending more. "the wall street journal" just five of the 200 biggest metropolitan areas have more loans in 2011 than in 2006. >> it is t is very bad and in fairness there is some reduction in demand as well but stale lot of problems with credit availability, small business. >> writing loan necessary 2006 we had no business to be doing. >> wanted to tight up a bit there is a tendency when you get in a downturn the other way, why you want healthy banks with healthy balance sheets to go out there and take few risks. >> what were the mistakes made in 2000? this book, critical with people you were working with, tim geithner, probably not sending

you a christmas card. >> i don't think so anyway. >> tell me what are the mistakes made back then? >> first of all, two points to point out, everyone did what they thought was right. the fundamental fallacy is was if you brown the institution, make them profitable it will help rest of us, help the broader economy and just didn't turn out that watch we averted a true catlism from owe kburg we didn't -- the credit lines were still pulled, the loans were still pulled. koncht have done it better? >> could have done it better could. have done more to clean up troubled loans, get them off bank balance sheets, should have you done far more on mortgage restructuring, glad see the housing market come back a little bit. a long time coming, still a lot of inventory to come on the market. >> can i ask you first of all, thank you for what you did standing up, being an independent voice, i think you became an important independent voice of all americans. i happen to agree with you, i think one thing that president obama did he shouldn't have done, he should have put more independently monitored people, should have been more shelias there thank you for writing this

book. do you think -- what do you think, looking back on it was the major thing did he wrong? i think you think did he some things right, right? >> in 2009 -- in 2008, we were potentially spinning out of control, a lot of uncertainty you didn't have a good information, didn't have a playbook, i can be more comfortable with the decisions made then, some i still disagree w in 2009, the system was stable. that was the time to do fundamental restructuring some of these sicker institutions. i think the public needed to see there was going to be some accountability, somebody was going to be lead to the pill lorry. it didn't happen. >> why is that? >> i think again park the philosophy was, tim had this philosophy in the bush administration, too that you make the big institutions healthy, that will take care of everybody else, it is just not -- their interests and our interests two very different things. >> is that because there weren't enough nonbankers in charge? it seems like they put wall street in charge of -- >> the secretary was -- timothy geithner wasn't a banker. >> he has never worked for a wall street firm but obviously,

bob ruben was his mentor and he learned a lot of his world perspective from bob ruben, head of the new york fed. the new york fed is a big financial institution, a quasigovernmental one, all be t but it does -- i think is reflective of somewhat of a mind set, large institutions are the center of our universe, the old saying what is good for the g; good for the usa what is good for city group good for the usa there is this mindset if you help them and make them profitable, it will help everybody else and they are two very different things. >> shelia, one thing about the book is a lot of criticism of tim geithner and the organizing principle of the book your philosophy versus his. seems lining you let president off the hook, tend of the day president obama hired this guy, he stuck with him at every turn, people said they should get rid of tim geithner, why isn't the criticism of president obama? >> well, you know, i don't know. i think we had a relatively young president, obviously, coming in. he had not been in public servais long time, he didn't

really have his own people, he drew from the clinton administration and that meant the bob ruben folks who had run thing us in the past. but the problem is they had -- were responsible for a lot of this, this deregulatory philosophy and still have a very wall street, i think, centric focus. so i can't speak for the president, but i do -- i did have the chance to interact with him directly on a number of occasion. and what i heard him wanting is not necessarily what i saw his economic team pursuing. sure hurricane t sure, the buck stops there and he has to be accountable for the decisions his administration made. it is not clear every egg was done with something he want dodd? >> undermine the president? >> i wouldn't say that. the president should speak for himself on this it's just that -- i think he represents tim, i think they have a very good working relationship and so i think he respects the fact that it's -- how high you're gonna reach for a measure of success, because we didn't let the system go off the cliff, patting ourselves on the back, the banks are make money, made

money off the tarp. >> shelia bair. and four years ago, we were talking about pulling our money out of bank accounts and now we are so far away from that let's talk about -- getting no interest. shelia bair. thank you so much. nice to see you. we are talking about another book coming up, from harry potter to sex, drugs and violence, jk rowling's first novel is on sale for adults only today. will you want to read it? we have the very first reviews, up next. s otting, but i had already gone through menopause. these symptoms may be nothing... but they could be early warning signs of a gynecologic cancer, such as cervical, ovarian, or uterine cancer. feeling bloated for no reason. that's what i remember. seeing my doctor probably saved my life. warning signs are not the same for everyone. if you think something's wrong... see your doctor. ask about gynecologic cancer. and get the inside knowledge. not quite knowing what the next phase was going to be, you know, because you been,

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it has been five, long difficult years since the final harry potter book. in all, seven harry porter books sold a staggering 450 million copies world wide. the movies gross modder than $7

billion worldwide making author jk rowling a very, very rich woman. >> a big change. today's new novel is on the shelves for adults -- "the casual vacancy," with the daily beast, the first to read the novel, sex scandal and drugs is it good? is it good? >> i think a good read. certainly easy to read, just like the harry potter books were. it is set in a small town in england it is about sort of political life a.m. ries and back biting and sort of small town life. it is sort of a social satire in a lot of ways. >> you are talked to rowling a few times here. why do you think she decided to go this way? she had such success writing kids books, i say kids books, i read them, i loved them, why go this way? >> for her, probably chal lechblg she had been writing for children. the world's most successful author for years.

she had been writing for years. she doesn't have to write another book if she doesn't want to the same thing that applies in the harry potter books, strong, powerful people oppressing weak people, you know, those same things can be transferred right into this book. i mean it is just done at a little bit mature level. >> less magic. >> less magic. a lot less magic. >> what guts it takes to be a person known for one thing, having everybody wanting you to write, harry porter for grownups, fantasy and magic. comes out with a book sounds like social justice issues, so forth. she is so famous and she had so much to lose by writing it, she went ahead and doing this my question for you you having read it, if it wasn't written by her, would it be worth buying? are we reading it because it's, oh what is she up to when she starts to write for adults? so many better books for people

who really do write for adull to us read? is it worth reading if you covered the name and a pen name on it? >> nional "casual vacancy" or "50 shades"? >> a good question. every good chance. like michael jordan went off to play baseball. she knows how to tell a story, method today cal if the in the way she constructs things, never a moment in this book you think she has completely lost the thread here. >> if written by somebody else, would you recommend it? >> i would. just a very solidly told story. >> malcolm jones, culture writer, "newsweek," the daily beast, nice to see you. ahead on "starting point" seen the presidential candidates make the rounds on letterman, len mind "the view." are these shows just fluff or

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president obama and mitt romney have been on a media blitz, a different kind of media blitz. both men and their wives making regular appearances on late night comedy shows and entertainment programs like "the view" and acce"access hollywood" >> joining us is howard kurtz, host of cnn's "reliable sources." he is getting criticism for meeting with the ladies of "the view" but not bilit ras of the u.n. general assembly. the replay of the quick, funny

laugh line of candidates. lauren, are they appealing to the masses so they don't have to answer tough questions? >> i think so i think it is actually a way to hold them accountable through their aracter. people are going too invite them into their living room for four years. >> think the candidate wives are great, mitt can't win a hangover, he has a problem. >> shows something about themselves when this go on. i think she is terrific when she does those interviews? >> as we have talked about on our website, i'm tired of the stuffed shirt journalism prognosticators looking down their nose at these program this is where the pop culture s candidates who want to be like the president have to play in that culture to reach people who aren't watching cnn all day or tune nothing sunday morning shows. >> most people aren't into

politics 24/7, believe to it or not. >> what? >> or the news. >> there a risk in doing this in certain ways? let's play a clip of president obama on david letterman. they had an exchange there i want to get a sense whether you think this was the best possible president obama he could be putting you forward. let listen. >> you look great. >> i feel good. >> how much do you weigh? >> you know -- [ laughter ] about 1806789 >> 180 looks good on you. >> thank you. >> that's just about where i am and i don't look so good at 180. >> you look sharp. >> you haven't seen me naked. [ laughter ] >> he is thinking there how to answer that. there is a moment where the president is like -- hmm. where do i go with this? >> is that smart for a president? is that presidential, talk about naked david letterman? >> he had no choice tan. he has to show that he can play in this game. i mean this is a guy who plays nine dimensional chess for a living. if you can't bat it back to a comedian, you know, you don't have any business being the president. >> you are about homgd

institutions accountable. the media organizations that consider themselves the serious players here, you know, they ignore when there's a somewhat substantive discussion on letterman or len know, "the view." >> he asked about the national debt. no one played the national debt clip. >> what are the things that go viral online, mitt gets asked about snooki, talked about what do you wear to bed. >> i don't really want to know. >> don't you think over the years, guys like letterman and leno and stewart have become a little bit more serious and felt more responsible knit these interviews as they have been sort of criticized for just allowing the guys come into the soft venues? i have noticed since this started, since i have been covering things, maybe they have at least one or two serious questions now. >> i think they have to. i think it's not the right venue for it. i mean, i think a press conference at the white house is probably a better place to be asking those questions but good for them, good for them that they are toughly trying to make some news on politics on these talk shows. >> put out these gimmicks knowing the one answer on snooki

or what do you look like when you go to bed that is going to be cotton candy everybody will gobble up. get to have it both ways. john stewart is a very good interviewer. >> despite the criticism that has been thought this week about president obama not meeting with foreign leaders, doing these other interviews, you guys seem to think it may not be only good strategy but good for america this is happening? >> the president had a choice the oingts aren't great are he can spend his time jaw boning with world leaders or campaign to save his job. part of campaigning is going on program like "the view." >> i disagree. >> you disagree? >> real hunger for people to know the candidates. something about them is mysterious, they are both technocrats and the slows opportunities say look, i am a he a regular guy. i'm hip. >> he should have been talking to world leaders, you can do both. >> one of the stuffed shirt prognosticators you described --

>> he didn't meet with world leaders and he went on "the view" and it gives fox the opportunity to come down on him. >> the only way to get to more serious venues is ridicule them and mock them and push back when they do the soft stuff. >> did arsenio hall. >> nice to see you guys. >> we will be back in a moment. [ laughing ] [ laughing ] [ laughing ] [ laughing ] ♪

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time for a very brief but insightful end point. ryan? >> brief at least. romney's problems talking about talking to his communications person before, tara. i think simply it's the too negative on obama and not enough positive what he would do their theory of this race, if you just attack obama, just point out where he failed, mitt romney win buys default that is the strategic error of the 2012 campaign. >> ryan lizza, suzy welch? >> the problems are right and something about the with the delivery. >> i agree we having they said. >> that us for being brief. cnn newsroom with carol costello begins now. good morning, carol. >> hi, john. happening now in the newsroom, they are stretching out and suiting up, the nfl's referees turn return to their field of expertise tonight. with the replacements gone, football fans can now direct their anger elsewhere. fbi agents investigating the la